Budget Woes in San Jose

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This article downplays how completely anomalous the case of San Jose is. It is the only major American city to have a lot fewer jobs than residents, and is therefore probably the clearest case study in what Proposition 13 does to a community. It should be noted that San Jose has always had enjoyed non-corrupt, pretty competent, and business-friendly leadership, so that's not the issue as it has been in other California cities.

San Jose, which has the highest median household income of any major city in the country, at $77,000 a year, and is home to billion-dollar companies such as Cisco and Adobe Systems Incorporated, also has some of the worst roads in the country, a shrinking police department despite a growing population, and, until the city shut it down, one of the largest homeless encampments in the nation.

As companies in this city and in surrounding Santa Clara County, which encompasses Silicon Valley, have raked in billions over the last few years, the city of San Jose has been trying its hardest not to go broke. In 2012, the mayor put a controversial pension-reform proposal on the ballot, saying he couldn’t cut services or staff any further. It passed, but was then challenged in court. Police and firefighters have agreed to pay cuts and staff reductions, and the city employs some 1,700 fewer people than it did in 2001, although it has added 100,000 in population. The city has a billion-dollar backlog of deferred maintenance costs for infrastructure, according to a city spokesperson, and may ask voters in June to approve a sales-tax increase to raise more money for basic city services.